Newbie
by pikapikatchu
Summary: When Nick needs a change of scenery, a new guy enters the graveyard shift's team.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! So here it finally is, a new story of mine! I really hope you like it, should be fun! ;)**

**Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

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><p>"So what did she say?" Greg and Nick were walking up to an office building on this friday night. They needed to investigate a murder in there.<p>

"...That her boyfriend wouldn't be happy about this." Nick answered as he blushed a little.

"...What?!" Greg raised his eyebrows. "She has a boyfriend?!"

Nick nodded. "Can't be the best relationship if she's willing to cheat on him with me, but..." He shrugged.

"Well... So it's over, right?"

Nick walked a bit faster now, without answering.

"...Nick! You can't keep seeing her! She has a boyfriend!"

"...So? There's a reason she cheats on him, don't you think?"

"Come on, it's wrong and you kno..." Greg looked at his hands. "Dammit, Nick! Why didn't you remind me to take my kit with me?"

"I didn't notice you forgot it."

"I left it in the car..." Greg sighed annoyed as he turned around to walk back to the car, while Nick walked into the office building laughing over Greg's scattiness. The young CSI hurried to the car and got his kit out.

"Hey Greg!" Officer Spencer walked up to him with a smile. "Haven't seen you in a while."

Officer Spencer and Greg made some small talk while they walked up to the office building. The smiles on their faces faded quickly as they both smashed to the floor. It took a few seconds before Greg was able to sit up and look at the tragedy that had occurred. The office building was on fire. "...Nick," Greg mumbled. "Nick's in there!" He got up in shock and ran over there.

Spencer followed him to keep him from running inside. "Don't!"

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><p>The firefighters had controlled the fire, but three people – one of them being Nick – were still unaccounted for. Greg was nervously waiting for some good news while Russell was talking to the firefighters. When he was done talking, the supervisor walked over to Greg with a devastating look on his face.<p>

"...What's going on, Russell?" Greg asked impatiently.

"It was a huge explosion that detonated on the second floor. There's still a few rooms they weren't able to clear yet, maybe he's safe in one of them..."

"How many dead?"

Russell sighed. "Two. Seven critical injuries and a few dozen minors. ...You should get yourself checked out, too."

Greg shook his head. "Something must've hit my head, I was pretty close to the building... but it's fine. I need to make sure Nick's okay, first."

Russell nodded sighing. "It could've been a lot worse, you know. With that big of an explosion and the fire..."

"But what is taking them so long? Why won't they find him?" Greg gave Russell a heartbreaking look. "The crime scene was on the second floor."

"Another dead body!" one of the firefighters yelled while walking out of the building. The CSIs both stood there with horrified looks on their faces. "And two injured, one critical!" the firefighter added. The two men stared at the people getting out of the building anxiously, hoping one of them to be Nick.

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><p>"It's a miracle!" Greg exclaimed with a big smile on his face as he was sitting on a hospital bed. "...Ouch!" A doctor was taking care of the wound on his head, as well as the scratches on his face, hands and arms. "Don't give me that look, it<strong> is<strong> a miracle!"

Nick couldn't help but give that look Greg was complaining about. "It was just luck. It could've been much worse..." Nick was one of the two injured people making it out of the building last. He was in the basement when the explosion occurred and his only injury was a sprained wrist and a harmless bump on the head.

Greg looked Nick up and down. "Oh come on. You were inside that building and hardly have a scratch on you. I look worse than you do."

"Don't blame the explosion for that," Nick replied jokingly.

Russell walked over to the hospital bed with a soft smile on his face, happy to see them both joke around. "How are you two?"

Greg nodded rather upbeat. He was happy Nick was fine. "Any news about the critically injured?"

"One didn't make it, the others are still in surgery." Russell walked over to Nick. "What happened in there? The firefighters say the body inside the basement didn't die in the explosion."

"He didn't. He probably saved my life, though..." Nick went on to explain that he was on his way to the second floor, where the crime scene they wanted to work on was. But as he walked inside the building he was asked to take a look inside the basement because they had found a dead body there, too.

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><p>As Greg walked past the tox lab three days after the explosion, a bunch of lab rats were standing outside of it, staring in. "Hey. What's going on?"<p>

"New guy," Hodges said, pointing inside to Russell and a stranger.

"New guy? Where's Henry? He didn't quit, did he?"

"No," Hodges replied. Russell and the new guy were on their way out so the lab rats scattered. "He's a CSI."

"...What?" Greg asked surprise as Hodges walked away.

"Hey Greg." Russell walked up to him with a smile. "This is Ron Ackles."

"Nice to meet you," Ron said with an excited smile. He was a good looking man with short black hair, carefully combed to the side.

"You, too," Greg responded a little confused. "So you'll be joining our team?"

"My first shift today!"

"Nick asked me to transfer him to swing shift for the next few months so I decided to hire someone to fill in for him," the supervisor explained. "Listen, I showed him around the lab but I'm swamped with work. Would you mind taking him to your crime scene, show him how we do things around here?"

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><p>"I'm very excited to be working with you guys!" Ackles said in an upbeat voice.<p>

"So where was your last job?" Greg asked as they were walking up to a crime scene.

"Arizona. But only for three months."

"And before that?"

"College in Reno."

"...College?" Greg looked at him surprised.

Ackles was, after all, 35 years old. "Yeah I know, I get that a lot. After almost ten years in my old job I needed a change, you know? So I went back to college, worked three months at a small crime lab and well... here I am now!" He left the part out where his father's good connections got him the job in the lab. While he appreciated his father's help, he wasn't too proud over the fact that he needed it to get the job.

"Were you a cop before you decided to go back to school?"

He shook his head. "No, I had a boring, regular 9 to 5 office job. Arizona wasn't all that action-packed, either. But Vegas, man. I bet it's exciting!"

Greg chuckled a bit. "We have slow days, too."

They walked up to David, who was just starting to process a body lying in a bathtub.

"...Oh my god," Ackles said shocked at the sight of the bloated body who had been lying in that tub for a few days.

"...You're not gonna be sick, are you?"

He hastily shook his head without looking too convincing.

"Hey David. Meet Ron Ackles, he's new on the team."

"Nice to meet you," the coroner said. "I'd shake your hand if it wasn't covered with this guy."

Ackles nodded insecure. "I-I'm sorry, but I could really need some fresh air."

Greg couldn't help but grin a bit before sharing a look with David. "Sure. How about you check the outside for trace? I'll be there in a sec."

Ackles quickly hurried outside. David chuckled. "How long has he been doing that job?"

"Three months. I guess there haven't been many water corpses in Arizona in that time."

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><p>"Stop apologizing. It's alright. We all know that feeling." Greg gave Ackles a smile on their drive back to the lab. "And I think it's important to be able to step away from a case if it's too much for you to handle."<p>

"Thanks." Ackles smiled. "I'm sure I'll get used to all the gore soon."

"I'm sure you will."

"But I'm not stepping away from that case!"

"Good." Greg smiled again.

They were silent for a while until Ackles decided to bring a topic up he didn't know it was okay to talk about. "I hope you don't mind me asking but... The injures on your face, did they happen on the job?"

"There was an explosion at a scene a few days ago. I was lucky to be far away from it, but... Yeah, happened on the job."

He nodded. "I bet it must be hard... Dealing with the danger all day."

Greg shrugged. "There's a lot of things you can do to minimize the danger, but there's some things you can't control."

"I guess you get used to that, too, huh?"

"...You learn to live with it."


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took me so long to update, you guys! I'll try to be quicker the next chapters!**

**Now enjoy! :)**

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><p>"How come I'm the last to know?" Greg asked Nick over the phone.<p>

"_I'm sorry, man, it was a quick decision."_

"So quick that they already got a replacement?"

"_I heard that the swing shift was hiring a new guy and decided to take the opportunity, you know? It's just for two or three months."_

"But why?" Greg was walking inside the lab, followed by Ackles.

"_I just need a break."_

"From what?" Silence was on the other side of the line. "Nick!"

"_Listen, I just want a break from the night shift for a few months, we'll see each other after your shift and on free days, okay?"_

Greg rolled his eyes. "It's not about that." He sighed. "I gotta go back to work now."

"_See you later?"_

"Sure. I'll bring some food. Bye." He hung up the phone as he rolled his eyes. "Alright, Ackles. After we processed the scene we take the evidence we collected back to the lab." He handed Hodges a bag of evidence. "The tech's processing the evidence and will find you as soon as they have the results ready if it's urgent. While we wait for the results we go down to pathology or work on any evidence that needs further processing."

Ackles nodded interested. "So we'll go down to pathology now?"

"Yeah. Follow me."

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><p>Greg and Ackles were making some progress in their case and were able to identify a suspect already. The man's fingerprints were all over the crime scene, as well as the murder weapon. The two CSIs were inside the interrogation room talking to him. "Nice story. But that's not an explanation for your fingerprints all over the scene <strong>and<strong> on the screw driver that killed him."

"Look, I don't even know the guy. Why should I want to kill him?" the suspect asked annoyed.

"You claim you don't know him, yet your prints are all over his apartment? You gotta do better than that." Greg was getting a bit impatient listening to the bad lies of the suspect.

"I didn't even know he lived there! I was dating this girl, Jennifer last month, and she lived there."

"We talked to the victim's roommate. He never mentioned a woman living there and he also never saw you there, either." Greg shook his head. He didn't believe one word coming out of this man's mouth.

The suspect jumped off his seat nervoulsy and angrily, knocking over his chair. "I'm telling the truth! I didn't kill Jon!"

Greg raised his eyebrows as he got off his chair, too. Ackles looked at him rather confused, but decided to follow his lead. Greg opened the door to let an officer walk in. "We never told you the victim's name."

"...Sure you did... I..." the suspect was desperately looking for words as the officer walked up to him with handcuffs. "No!" he yelled, shoving the officer to the ground and running past Greg and Ackles. He didn't come too far as another two officers were stopping him at the door. He was cuffed.

"Are you alright?" Greg asked Ackles as the suspect was walked away.

Ackles had a horrified look on his face. "...Y-Yeah..." he stuttered. "I've never seen a man snap like that! I thought he was gonna attack us!"

Greg chuckled as he patted his back. "You'll get used to that, too."

"...But this is as bad as it gets, right?"

"Uh... well, usually, yes."

"...But?"

"Well, we **are** working with dangerous criminals most of the time. The few minutes inside this interrogation room can change their lives completely."

"So... did anyone ever attack you?"

Greg had a thoughtful look on his face. He wasn't sure how to answer that question. He didn't want to scare the aspiring CSI off, but he also didn't want to lie to him. "It happened, yeah."

They walked back to the lab. "How?"

Greg sighed deeply. "Rather harmless things, I guess... Getting slapped, getting chairs thrown at you, getting bitten..."

"...**That's** harmless?"

Greg shrugged. "Well it's not like those were life-threatening situations."

"...But there have been life-threatening ones?"

"You know what? I think we should take a coffee break..."

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><p>"So how's it going?" Russell asked as he walked into the break room.<p>

Greg sipped on his coffee. "Good... Good. He's doing a good job so far."

"...But?"

"I'm not sure he knew what he was signing up for when he came to Vegas. He's only worked at a crime lab for three months before... in some small town in Arizona. He seems to be kind of scared of criminals."

"Scared? What happened?"

"Oh nothing, really. Our suspect snapped when we confronted him. I think it scared Ackles. And he keeps on asking questions about how dangerous the job is."

Russell nodded. "I'll talk to him at the end of his shift. Until then... try not to scare him too much."

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><p>After his talk with Russell, Greg walked into the evidence room, where Ackles was working on a piece of evidence in their new murder case. "Alright, so how's it going? Found anything useful yet?"<p>

Ackles nodded smiling. "I'm trying to open that jar I found next to the victim." He was trying to do so with a knife.

"Wait, have you processed the outside of it yet? I don't want you to destroy any evidence." Greg walked up closer to him to assist him.

"Yeah I did, but it was clean. No prints or anything. I can't wait to find out what it..." He finally managed to open it up with the knife, but spilled lots of the content on Greg's shirt. "...Oh my god."

Greg sighed annoyed. "Well, looks... and smells... like blood."

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><p>"I'm so sorry!" Ackles ran after Greg as the CSI walked into the locker room.<p>

"It's alright." He got a shirt out of his locker.

"I-I'll pay for the cleaning, don't worry!"

"I said it's alright. We keep an extra pair of clothes in our lockers for a reason." Greg changed his shirt. He turned back around to Ackles and noticed a weird - almost pitying - look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Uh... Sorry, I... There was some talk around the lab, I wasn't sure if it was true, I..."

"...Oh. You mean the scars." After the explosion in the lab many years ago, Greg had some scarring on his back. Since he hardly ever saw his back himself, he sometimes forgot he even had them.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare or anything..."

"No, it's okay. So what exactly did Hodges tell you?"

Ackles looked surprised, he never mentioned Hodges, but it was in fact him who told him. "Nothing, just... that there was an explosion that left you injured and... that he didn't have anything to do with it."

Greg rolled his eyes. He didn't mind Ackles knowing, but Russell had told him not to frighten the new CSI with any stories like that.

"I never realized working at a crime lab would be so dangerous."

"It's not. One incident in all these years is nothing."

Ackles smiled relieved. He hadn't heard about all the dangerous incidents out in the field the CSIs all had experienced, yet.

"Just stay away from Hodges and you'll be fine."

"...Why? Is he dangerous?"

"No, he's a tool."


	3. Chapter 3

**Happy Halloween, guys! **

**This isn't exactly a Halloween-themed story, but I guess this chapter is gory enough ;) Enjoy!**

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><p>"Would you mind shutting your cakehole for once?" Greg walked up to Hodges annoyed.<p>

"What? ...Oh, that. He asked about incidences in the lab, what else was I supposed to tell him?"

"How about all the times **you** screwed up?"

The lab tech rolled his eyes. "I was cleared every time. What's the big deal, anyway?"

"Russell told me not to scare the guy off and you go and tell him about an explosion **inside** the lab?"

"...Well, if that's the case, we should probably find Henry."

"...Why? Is there some kind of competition going on? Who'll scare the new guy the most?"

"Would you shut up for a moment and let me explain? Him and Ackles were here ten minutes ago and he started asking questions again. I'm not too sure on any details but... I think the word Minitiature Killer was dropped once or twice..."

"...What?!" Greg stormed off angrily.

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><p>When Greg walked into the break room, Henry and Ackles were laughing and chatting quite relaxed. The angry look on Greg's face was fading. "...Hey." He walked in, trying not to draw too much attention to himself and grabbed a cup. While he poured some coffee in his cup, both Henry and Ackles bursted out in laughter. Greg turned around to them smiling. "What's going on?"<p>

"Oh nothing, I'm just telling him some funny stories that happened inside these walls."

Greg nodded relieved. He walked out with his coffee, giving them some more time to bond.

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><p>Greg was asked to work with Ackles again. Russell had talked to the aspiring CSI in hopes of taking the fear from him. So far, it seemed to have worked. As the days went by, Ackles seemed to be getting a little more confident at the crime scenes, as well as with the criminals they had to work with. He got along with his colleagues quite well and him and Greg slowly started to become friends.<p>

The two were walking back to the crime lab from a coffee run to a new diner that opened three weeks ago, a few blocks away. All the police officers at the station were raving about the diner's coffee, claiming it was better than any other coffee they ever drank. While Ackles and Greg liked the coffee, they were a bit let down after having high expectations. "I don't know what all the fuss is about, I can brew better coffee than that." Greg laughed. "But I guess for inexpensive coffee it's good."

"Yeah, I guess so." Ackles wasn't that much of a coffee drinker, anyway, but ever since working the graveyard shift he became addicted to that stuff just like anybody else. He still didn't really enjoy drinking it, though. "Hey, I was thinking about hitting some casinos next weekend. I figured I'm long enough in Vegas to try the whole experience, you know? Wanna come with?"

Greg chuckled. "I can join you but I won't gamble. It's a waste of money."

"But not if you're having fun doing it, don't you think?" Ackles patted his back.

"There's no fun in losing money, believe me." As Greg finished that sentence, a group of people walked up behind them. While his paranoia, stemming from the Neil Novak incidences, had been getting better for months now, he was still very alert of his surroundings. A few glances around his shoulder, he figured this group of people was not paying any attention to him and Ackles. But it still made him uncomfortable, so he decided to let them pass, gently pushing Ackles to the side a little to make room for the group. But instead of passing them by, two of them pushed Greg to the ground, while the other three pushed Ackles against a building. The men now all gathered around Ackles.

Greg was getting up from the floor as quick as he could, looking around confused and concerned. "...Ackles." he whispered as his eyes caught the group of people standing around his colleague. While he looked around for something to defend himself and Ackles with, he put his cell phone out of his pocket.

"Drop it," one of the men from the group said as he walked over to Greg. Another one followed and together, they pushed the CSI to the ground again and started to beat him.

Greg tried to get the two assailants off him, but they were quite violent and hesistant. The moment he realized he couldn't fight them off, he tried his best to protect his head. "I got him," one of the two men on top of Greg said as he grabbed the CSIs wallet, so the other one walked over to Ackles to join the rest of the group.

He stopped beating him, but the assailant was still on top of Greg, restraining him. The CSI could see over to Ackles, who was being surrounded by the four men. He could not quite see what was going on, but it was awfully quiet. Because the group was in the way, he couldn't see Ackles anymore and was very worried. "...Ackles?"

The two men standing directly in front of Ackles both took a step to the side, the CSIs were now able to look at each other.

Greg was relieved, but only for a moment. One of the men pointed at him with a grin on his face.

"...No...," Ackles whispered with desperation in his face. "...Please, no..." he said under his breath as the man on top of Greg whipped out a knife, slowly putting it near the CSIs face.

Ackles watched Greg struggle for a short second followed by an excruciating and terror-filled scream. The men were laughing as one of them knocked Ackles unconscious.

The five men left the two CSIs bleeding and hurting, laughing on as they passed them by.

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><p>When Ackles regained consciousness a minute later, he couldn't remember what happened a few minutes before he was knocked down. He looked around confused to find Greg still lying where the men had left him, not moving. He remembered what happened. "...Greg!" He wanted to run over to him, but was too weak yet, so he slowly tumbled towards his colleague. "...Greg, please be okay!" he exclaimed desperately as he came closer.<p>

"...Ackles, are you okay?" Greg covered the left side of his face with his right hand as he sat up.

Ackles nodded. "You're bleeding. What did they do to you?"

Greg slightly shook his head as his eyes watered. "They took my phone. Do you have yours?"

"...Yeah," he replied. "I'll call an ambulance..."

Greg nodded as he laid down again.

"...Greg?"

"I'm a little dizzy and nauseaus, I don't want to faint, so..."

"I'm so sorry, can I do anything to help you?"

"Just call an ambulance..." he replied exhausted.

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><p>After getting stitched up at the hospital, Greg was allowed to go home. He wanted to check on Ackles, but didn't know what room he was in. "Excuse me." He stood in front of the reception. "I'm looking for CSI Ackles, we were admitted together."<p>

The nurse at the desk nodded. "Yeah, I remember him," he said, looking at a computer screen. "Just what I thought, he left an hour ago."

"...What? What do you mean, he left?"

"He was released from the hospital, his wounds were only superficial. He's fine." The nurse smiled at him.

"...But..." Greg looked at him quite confused and lost for words.

"Oh, wait. You're Greg Sanders, right? There's someone here for you in the waiting area."

"Thank you..." Greg walked to the waiting area to find Nick sitting there, nervoulsy tapping his feet on the floor.

"...Hey you," Nick said with a smile on his face, walking over to Greg to hug him.

"Nick... What are you doing here?"

"Russell couldn't get away from his scene so he asked me to pick you up." A short pause followed. "Alright, I made him let me pick you up." He chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. He could feel Greg was quite tensed up, which didn't surprise him.

Greg faintly smiled back, but it hurt him. His assailant had cut his left cheek, resolving in a two inch long wound. There was a band-aid covering it.

"So what exactly happened? I didn't get a chance to talk to the officers yet." He looked him up and down.

Greg was wearing the clothes he wore when they got attacked, his shirt was blood-trenched and his jeans dirty from the ground. "I-I'm not really sure... This group just jumped us, they took my wallet and phone and... They were so... brutal."

"You know it's better not to fight them off, they..."

Greg interrupted him. "I didn't. Well, at first... Your instinct kicks in. You fight back when you're being attacked. But I had long stopped before he pulled out a knife. It was so... unnecessary."

"...A knife?" Nick replied a bit shocked.

Greg pointed at his cheek. "He cut me without any reason. He already had my wallet, he already took my phone, I didn't fight him anymore... He did it, anyway."

"Oh man, that's... horrible."

Greg nodded. "Have you seen Ackles?"

"No, I haven't. Maybe he's still being treated?"

"I asked at the desk, he went home."

"...What?" Nick frowned. "He didn't wait for you or at least tell you he left?"

Greg shrugged. "It's okay, he's probably under shock and didn't think straight..."

"And you?" Nick asked, "Are you alright?"

"A little shaken up, but... I'll be okay. But... I really appreciate you coming to pick me up." He smiled at his friend.

Nick smiled back. "Here." He handed him some clothes.

"What's that?" Greg grabbed it.

Nick held a paper bag in his hand. "I asked the CSI who processed you earlier to wait with this... I need to take your clothes, they're evidence now. Plus, I'm sure you appreciate some clean clothes. I got them out of your locker."

"Thanks." Greg's smile turned into quite a strained one. Once again, his clothes were evidence. It wasn't a good feeling.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here we go again!**

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><p>After getting a few hours of sleep at home, Greg decided to walk over the police station to find out if there had been any progress concerning the attack already. He was greeted by a few police officers as he walked in, while some others looked at him quite shocked over his bruised face, graced with a big band-aid over the cut on his cheek. "Hey Brass," he greeted the Captain as he walked into his office. "Any news yet?"<p>

"Not exactly." Brass offered him a seat. "How are you holding up?"

Greg sighed. "A little sore, but other than that, it's fine."

Brass nodded as he smiled at him. "You know, there's a few follow-up questions I'd like to ask you." Right after the attack, Brass didn't get a real chance to talk to Greg, he needed more medical attention than Ackles, so the Captain concentrated more on him and decided to let the much more experienced CSI get some rest before he interrogated him.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Did these guys say anything to you?"

"I don't think they wanted to make any small talk," he replied sarcastically.

Brass nodded, still smiling, as he wrote something down. "So nothing?"

"No... Why are you asking?"

"Because they seemed to be very talkative with Ackles."

"...Really? What did they say?"

"Well, giving Ackle's statement, we might know their motive."

Greg's heart started beating a little faster now. He was quite nervous about finding out why they got attacked. "...Yeah?"

Brass cleared his throat as he handed Greg some files. "Ackles said they thought you two were a couple. They made some homophobic remarks."

Greg read the files. "...A couple? They did this because... they thought we were gay?"

"It appears so."

"But they took our wallets."

The captain shook his head. "Actually, just yours."

He took a closer look at the pictures in the files. "Ackles has, like, three bruises. Why did they... They were all over him, there was only one guy with me. Why... Why did they... They spared him. Why?"

"I know what you're thinking, Greg, because I'm thinking it, too. They were quite inconsistent, but... There's no explanation for that at the moment. Maybe Ackles had a little more luck than you."

Greg sighed as he leaned back. "Luck, huh? It's about luck?"

Brass shrugged. "I'm sorry, I know this isn't satisfying at all, but that's what it is."

* * *

><p>Ackles walked into the crime lab that night with quite a weird look on his face, trying to avoid talking to people as much as possible. He succeeded until he ran into Henry, who was just trying to be nice and ask him how he was. The lab tech received a rather harsh response he was quite surprised by.<p>

As Ackles made his way into the break room, he was shocked to see Greg sitting there and writing something. "...What are you doing here?"

Greg looked up from his paperwork. "It's been piling up for days now, I figured I could use the opportunity to get some of it done."

"...But... Didn't Russell say you would stay home until you're healed?"

He nodded. "I'm not really in the mood for field work, but I'm fit enough for paperwork."

"...Oh, alright, then..." Ackles turned around.

"Hey, wait. How are you?"

"...Huh?" He turned back around to Greg. "I-I'm okay."

"Why'd you leave the hospital without telling me?"

"I-I couldn't find you and I just wanted to get home. I'm sorry."

Greg nodded. "It's alright." Before Ackles walked out, Greg added, "I'm fine, by the way."

"...What? Oh, uh... Good. I-I meant to ask you how you were doing..."

Greg watched Ackles very carefully. "Why are you feeling guilty?"

"...Excuse me?"

"Look, I'm a CSI long enough to see the signs. You avoid eye contact, you're nervous."

Ackles was only getting more nervous as Greg was talking. "Greg, I don't... I'm not..." he stammered.

"You did nothing wrong, alright? You were surrounded by three or four guys, there was nothing you could've done to change the outcome of this."

"...What?" Ackles looked quite surprised. It was not what he expected Greg to say right now.

"I hate to sound like a chliché, but it's normal to feel that way. I do, too. But there's nothing either one of us could've done differently."

"...Yeah. You're right."

"Don't feel bad about it, okay?" He smiled at him. "We're both going to be fine."

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><p>Nick made quite an effort to spend as much time with Greg as possible ever since he switched shifts. It wasn't always easy, but they somehow made it work. They were at Nick's place after Greg's third shift since the attack, eating some breakfast Greg had brought with him. Nick was telling Greg a story from his recent case but he soon realized Greg wasn't really paying much attention to the story and hardly ate anything. "...Hey, you okay?"<p>

"Huh? ...Uhm, yeah. Sorry."

"Something wrong with your pancakes?"

"What?" Greg looked down on his plate. "Oh, no. They're okay."

"How would you know? You haven't eaten anything."

Greg sighed as he put his plate down. "It's just... Yesterday I gave Ackles the 'don't feel guilty' speech, and now I can't help but feel like I should've done more to protect him."

"Like what?" Nick bluntly asked as he took another bite from his breakfast.

The younger CSI shrugged. "Anything, really."

"As far as I can see, you did everything right. You two came out of that situation alive, that's all that matters."

"I think he's traumatized, Nick. He's nervous all the time and given how scared of criminals he was when he came here... I hope he'll recover from this."

"Of course he will."

Greg sighed. He knew Nick only meant well, but he wasn't really helping him with this. "I just want to help him overcome this somehow. I feel like it's my responsibility to help him, but I don't know how."

"You've been in his shoes a bunch of times yourself. What would've helped you?" Nick walked into the kitchen to get some sugar for his coffee.

"Well, I..." Greg felt something under the cushion he was leaning on. "Whoa." He picked it up and showed it to Nick while he walked back inside.

"...Hey!" Nick hurried over to grab it out of the young CSIs hand. It was a black bra.

"Oh Nick, I thought you broke it off with Erin. She's got a boyfriend, she..." Greg stopped talking. The perfume on the bra had triggered some memories. "...Is this... This doesn't belong to Erin, does it?"

Nick looked away, rubbing his neck. "It's not what it looks like."

"Yeah, sure." Greg got off his seat. "It never is, is it?" He walked over to the door.

"What? Greg, where are you going? Let's talk about this! Let me explain."

"What is there to talk about?! I got it all figured out already, sure brings things into perspective."

"What are you talking about? I get that you're angry, but..."

Greg stopped him as he turned around again with a furious look on his face. "Did it make it easier to be off the graveyard shift to continue seeing her or couldn't you suffer my company while you betrayed me like that?"

"...Greg, don't..."

Greg slammed the door behind him, not letting him finish his sentence.


	5. Chapter 5

**I hope you guys like the story so far. If you do, let me know :* **

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><p>While Greg's and Ackles' wounds started to heal, both were back to working together on their cases.<p>

At the start of their next shift, they took over a case in Henderson, where a dead body was found in a front yard and another inside the house. The body appeared to have died in the last few hours and they didn't have a suspect yet. "No I.D.," Greg said thoughtfully as he bended down to the victim in the front yard. "I'd say he's about... 30, maybe? Two... no, three gunshot wounds." He looked up to see David walk into the room.

"Hey guys. Look who I brought with me!" He was accompanied by Nick.

Greg looked annoyed obvious enough for David and Ackles to notice. "What are you doing here?"

"I just found out the victim in my case rented this house. He died from a gunshot wound just like your victim," Nick explained.

"So you're trying to take this case away from us?"

Nick frowned. "Greg, come on. We can work on this one together."

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><p>The drives from and back to the lab had been quiet in the last few days for Greg and Ackles. Both men had a lot on their minds and didn't feel like making small talk, but Ackles was starting to feel uncomfortable, noticing the anger Greg was feeling right now. "So... Are you and Nick alright?"<p>

"We're fine," Greg replied quite harshly.

"...Why are you mad at him?" The look he received let Ackles know Greg really didn't want to talk about this. "...Sorry."

Greg sighed frustrated. "No, I'm sorry. He just did something that really made me question his loyalty."

"...Oh. That... That sucks."

"It does." The tension in Greg's face faded as he gently smiled. "...I'm sure we'll work it out, though."

"I hope you do. You don't... you don't deserve to lose your friend."

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><p>While Nick tried to reach out to Greg the next day, the younger CSI didn't want to hear any of the excuses he thought Nick would tell him.<p>

"Hey Greg, can we talk?" Nick walked into the evidence room, where his friend had been working on some evidence for the last hour.

"...If this is about..." Greg got interrupted.

"It's not. We'll need to talk about that soon, too, but this is important." Nick was carrying files in his hands, which he nervously fumbled with.

"...Okay. What is it?"

"You never told me you scratched the guy who cut your cheek."

"I honestly forgot I did." Greg kept working on his evidence while they talked. "Why do you care?"

Nick inhaled as he rolled his eyes. "Because I'm your friend and I care about you. Greg, while investigating a liquor store robbery, we arrested a guy named Matthew Lowell. The store owner ran after him and was able to subdue him."

Greg was getting a bit impatient. "And you're telling me this... Wait, is he the one I... He attacked Ackles an me?"

Nick nodded as he handed him the file. "He's in a prison cell sobering up, but Brass will interrogate him as soon as possible. I thought you should know."

"...Thanks." Greg stared at the files, feeling a little anxious about the news. Before his friend left, he added, "Hey Nick. I have to pull a double today but... Maybe tomorrow we can talk?"

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><p>At the following shift, Ackles seemed to be a bit more relaxed – but he just managed to put on a better poker face. Greg walked through the police station after having a talk with Brass about his latest case. As he passed by the interrogation room, he only briefly glanced through the window, almost missing the scene that presented in that room. "...What?" He looked around, searching for an officer, but none was nearby, so he stormed inside on his own. "What the hell's going on?!"<p>

Ackles was pressing a man against a wall when Greg walked in. He didn't let go of him.

"What's gotten into you?! Let go of him!" Greg tried to seperate the two, but Ackles was quite determined to assault this man. He even elbowed Greg in the process, shoving him into one of the chairs in the room. His elbow had hit Greg's wounded cheek, the pain paralyzing him for a moment. When the pain faded away slowly, Greg got up again and yelled for an officer. The man Ackles was pinning against the wall was fighting back less as the CSI had a tight grip around his neck, almost suffocating him. No officer was coming to help Greg, but he was finally able to get Ackles off of the man on his own. "What the **hell** are you doing?!" He pushed Ackles away from him.

The man coughed violently as Greg helped him get up.

"Get away from him, Greg," Ackles said aggressively.

"You almost killed him! What's wrong with you?!" he yelled with a terrified look on his face. He wasn't scared of Ackles, but the thought of his colleague trying to kill someone with his bare hands was scaring him.

"I said get away from him, he's dangerous." Ackles was calming down a bit.

Greg gave him a look before turning back to the man. "Sir, are you alright?"

The man nodded his head as he stopped coughing. "Your cheek's bleeding," he said as he started to laugh.

Ackles was getting furious again, pulling Greg aside to be able to attack the man again. He punched him.

"Ackles, no!" Greg yelled frustrated. He tried to get him away from the man again but felt quite helpless while doing so. His colleague showed some strength Greg didn't think he had in him.

Two officers finally heard the noise and rushed in. They were able to get Ackles away from the man.

"**He** attacked **me**!" Ackles yelled, struggling to get the two officers off of him.

"...Are you out of your mind? He's handcuffed! How could he have attacked you?!" Greg sighed. "Get... Get him out of here and into the room next door," he said to the officers.

"No! Don't leave him here with you! Greg, get that man away from you!"

Greg frowned exhausted. "What? Who is this guy, even?"

The man in question started laughing hysterically. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of him." He made some vulgar gestures Greg didn't see.

"...Okay, okay. Officer Berkley, get that bastard back to his cell, I'll go in the other room with officer Kane... I won't make any troubles, just... just don't leave Greg alone with him. Please."

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><p>Russell greeted Greg in the hospital waiting room. Greg's wound had ripped open and he needed to get it stitched up again. He was nervously seesawing with his leg. "Hey."<p>

"Are you alright?" Russell looked him up and down before putting his hand on Greg's face to slightly turn it to the side to look at the wound. "Did the suspect hit you? Wasn't he handcuffed?"

Greg had a rather fed-up look on his face. He wasn't as much annoyed as he was worried, but he didn't want to show it. "A suspect didn't do that, Ackles did."

"...What?" Russell sat down next to him. "I thought he needed medical aid, too."

"His fist sure does. He broke a finger while using the suspect as a punching bag."

"O-okay, what? What happened?"

"If only I knew. I was walking by the interrogation room when I saw Ackles attacking a suspect. He was strangling him with his bare hands. He hit me when I tried to get him off of the guy. ...I don't think he wanted to hurt me, I don't think he even realized he was doing it..."

"...Did he break his finger when he punched you?"

Greg hastily shook his head. "No, he didn't even turn to look at me when he shoved me away. It was like he was in a trance or something, only concentrating on the suspect... He punched him, that's when he broke his finger."

"Did he say why he did it?"

"...No, he..." Greg stopped talking when Ackles walked up to them.

"...Greg, I'm so glad you're alright..."

"...Yeah, how about you?"

Ackles had his little finger on his right hand in a splint. "I'm good. I don't know what happened, I just... I snapped. I'm so sorry. Russell, I really didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"What the hell has gotten into you?!" Greg got off his seat. He was furious but was trying to stay calm. "I mean, what... why... god! You almost killed him!"

"That wasn't my intention." Ackles was rather quiet, all the anger was gone now.

"...No? Then what did you think would happen when you decided to strangle him?!" Greg wasn't good at keeping his emotions in check right now. The fear was overwhelming him.

"...Greg, let him explain." Russell put his hand on Greg's arm to pull him down, causing him to sit down again.

"He just disgusted me so much."

"Why? Who is this guy?"

"...He's one of the guys who attacked us. He's the one who cut Greg's cheek."

"...He... what?!" Greg jumped off his seat again. "This... **He** attacked us?"

Ackles nodded. "When I found out, I... I just couldn't... I confronted him about it and all he did was mock me. And... insult us. He had some very obscene and... disgusting things to say. I couldn't take it anymore so I jumped him. I'm not proud of it but... he got what he deserved."

Russell frowned. "How did you know he's the guy?"

"I overheard Captain Brass talk about it. They booked that guy in a robbery case and when they checked his DNA... It matched the sample they took from under your fingernails, Greg."

Greg buried his head in his hands as he sighed deeply. "This is the guy?"

"Yeah, why do you think did he laugh when he saw your cheek was bleeding again? ...Why do you think I insisted on you not being left alone with him? I was looking out for you!"

Greg leaned back. "No matter who he is, no matter what he did... You can't just attack the guy."

"...Am I gonna get in trouble for this?" Ackles asked worried.

Russel nodded thoughtful. "We'll see if he'll press charges. But until then I'll have to put you on desk duty for the next days."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took a while to upload, but here is the new chapter! Enjoy!**

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><p>When he got back from the hospital, Greg decided to meet up with Nick to talk about their dispute. Nick opened his door with a faint smile on his face. "Greg... Hey."<p>

"Hey Nick. Can we talk?"

"S-Sure, of course. Come in."

Greg did. "Ackles attacked Matthew Lowell."

Nick frowned. "What?"

"Yeah, I guess Ackles is more traumatized than I realized. Which means I need to be there for him, help him overcome this. ...And that means I can't be preoccupied with our issue all the time."

Nick nodded hastily. "Let me just explain what happened."

Greg sighed as he sat down on the couch. "You know what? There's no need for you to explain. You slept with Simone and I think it's terrible, but you've been through a lot so I'll let it slide."

"But Greg... I didn't sleep with Simone."

"...You don't have to lie anymore, alright? It's... fine."

"First of all, the look on your face doesn't look like it's fine. And second of all, I'm not lying. We didn't have sex."

"Then why did her bra..."

Nick stopped him. "Just listen, okay? Simone tried contacting me for weeks now. ...Months, to be honest. I tried to ignore it, but after the explosion... I ran into her in a supermarket and... Didn't turn her away like I should've. She wanted to apologize for everything she did and said she was going to therapy now. I don't know why, but I invited her in and... When I came out of the kitchen with two bottles of water, she was naked. I kicked her out, guess she forgot her bra."

"...Really? That's it? That's all that happened?"

Nick nodded. "You were right, though. I couldn't bear being around you all the time because I was ashamed. I knew you'd feel betrayed after that, so I figured getting some distance would help."

Greg nodded thoughtful. "I'm not sure what to think of it yet, but I don't feel betrayed, Nick." He smiled at him. It was the first genuine smile Nick had seen from his friend in the last few days.

"Just know that I'd never do anything to hurt you. It's just been a difficult time for me and I thought I might regret not giving her the opportunity to apologize. I was willing to give her a second chance and she blew it."

Even though he felt different about giving that woman a second chance, Greg could understand why Nick was willing to. He tried to be as understanding as possible, but was glad that Nick decided he couldn't trust his ex-girlfriend. "So it's over?"

"Yeah, nothing changed. She's still not in my life and she never will be."

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><p>Greg felt relief after reconciling with Nick and he was now able to concentrate on Ackles more. "Hey Ackles." He walked into the break room, where his colleague was reading a newspaper.<p>

"Hey," he replied without looking up.

"Are you feeling better?" Greg walked over to the coffee machine.

"I'm fine."

"Ackles, you attacked a suspect. We need to talk about this."

"I roughed him up a little, I admit that. I'm not proud of that. But I didn't mean to hurt him."

After fixing himself a coffee, the CSI sat down next to him. "But you did. You** did **hurt him."

"...Yeah, I agree. I'm a horrible person." Ackles put the newspaper in front of his face.

"That's not what I said. And I don't think you are. I just think you're scared and feeling vulnerable, which is normal. I do."

Ackles was getting angry. He meant to yell at Greg, but when he looked at him he couldn't do it. "...Greg... I appreciate what you're trying to do, but... don't. I don't deserve it. I made a mistake and I have to live with it."

"And this is where you're wrong." Greg handed him a card. "Call him. He helped many of us before and I'm sure he'll be able to help you, too."

"...What is this? Dr. Garayua, psychiatrist?"

"The lab will pay for it and..."

Ackles interrupted him as he jumped off his seat, slamming his hand on the table. "I don't need a goddamned shrink!"

Greg stared at him. "...Calm down, Ackles. I just thought this could help you deal with the attack."

"How is he supposed to help me? Huh?! Can he take the guilt off of my shoulders?!"

The CSI frowned. "What guilt? Because of Lowell?"

"...Because of** you**, you idiot!"

"...W-What?" This was getting more and more confusing for Greg.

"I don't care about this monster! He attacked you! He can rot in hell, for all I care. But you... You didn't deserve that. You were the only one that night who did everything right, and yet you're the only one who got hurt." Ackles' eyes watered.

He shook his head. "You did nothing wrong, it wasn't your fault..."

"**Yes **it was! I told him to spare me and kill **you** instead!"

The shock in Greg's face slowly turned into a sad frown. "...What do you mean?"

Ackles' face froze over the realisation of his big mistake. He never planned to tell Greg this and didn't know what to do now. "I-I... I'm sorry." Unable to think of a better plan, he stormed out of the room. But because he had raised his voice on Greg a few moments ago, half of the lab's employees were gathered around the break room's door, forcing Ackles to pass them all as he left.

Hodges stuck his head into the room cautiously. "...Are you alright?"

Greg couldn't answer right now, the shock was too deep at the moment. He slightly nodded with a face impression that let everyone know he wasn't alright.


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the last chapter! But the next story is already finished and I have a few new ideas I'm working on right now, too, so stay tuned ;)**

**Thanks for reading and hopefully enjoying the story!**

**Big Love,**

**pikapikatchu**

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><p>Three hours later, Russell asked Greg to meet him in his office. "Hey Greg, please sit down."<p>

"What's this about?" Greg asked with quite an insecure look on his face as he did.

"I need to talk to you about Ackles."

"I figured. And to be honest, I'm not quite sure what to think of it all. Maybe he's not cut out to be a CSI."

Russell raised both of his eyebrows. "You didn't talk him into it, did you?"

Greg laughed humorlessly. "Do I look suicidal?"

The supervisor frowned. "What?"

"Why should I talk... You're talking about something completely different, aren't you?"

"...Sure hope I do. What are **you **talking about?"

Greg sighed. "I thought he told you what he told me. Seems like he told the guys who attacked us to spare his life and instead take mine."

Russell's eyes widened in shock. "Well I guess that explains why he quit."

"...Ackles quit?"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you if you knew why... You obviously do. Did you say to him you don't think he's cut out to be a CSI?"

The CSI hastily shook his head. "He dropped that bomb on me a few hours ago and stormed off. I didn't even get a chance to talk to him."

"Well, I think this might be for the best, anyway."

"Why?"

"I mean, if he tells criminals to murder his colleagues... We can't really trust him, then."

"Russell, he's been terrified of criminals ever since he got here. He was just scared."

"And you weren't?"

"...Of course I was, but..."

"Yet you didn't tell them to kill him. You were looking out for him while he stabbed you in the back."

"Don't over-dramatize this, Russell. I was as shocked as you when he told me, but... He was doing a great job. He just needs to work on this issue, and..."

Russell shook his head. "I don't feel comfortable sending you off to another crime scene with him. It's too dangerous. The job's dangerous enough, we don't need anyone in our team encouraging criminals to hurt us."

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><p>Greg was torn between being glad his supervisor was standing up for his safety and being mad at him for not trying to help Ackles in any way. When he walked out of Russell's office, he heard noise coming from the locker room. It was Ackles, putting his belongings from his locker into a box. "...Hey Ackles."<p>

Ackles glanced over to Greg before continuing. "I'll be out of your sight in a moment."

"You know, I really enjoy working with you. You're a great CSI, I hope you realize that."

Ackles released a humorless chuckle as he closed his locker. "You don't have to say that. I know I screwed up. I hate myself every day for it."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? You know you made a mistake. You can learn from that and do better next time."

"...Next time. There'll be a next time?"

"There are CSIs in this lab who never had one life-threatening situation in their whole carreer, while others..." He shrugged.

"This didn't even happen on the job! ...I'm sorry, Greg. I just... I don't think I can deal with that. Ever since I started working here... I walk out of the house thinking this could be my last day. It's too much to take. I don't want this anymore."

Greg could sympathize with this a lot. He had days like that, too, ever since he's gotten into dangerous situations himself. "You could work on that one, too. You're not alone with this. Everybody has their fears, how you deal with them is what counts."

"Yeah well, I obviously didn't deal that great. Do you trust me after that? Do you want to keep on working with me?"

Greg sat down on the bench. "I'd give it another shot, yeah."

Ackles shook his head. "You shouldn't. I don't want you to get hurt."

As he was listening to Ackles, Greg kept wondering if he'd be okay with his colleagues working with Ackles. He was willing to take the risk, but wasn't sure if he'd like his colleagues to take it. "So what's your plan? You quit, and then?"

"I don't know, maybe get back into an office."

Greg nodded. "Will you stay in Vegas?"

"Probably not. I need a fresh start, you know?"

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><p>The next day, Nick was back at the graveyard shift. "Hey Greg." He patted his shoulder as he walked past him in the break room to fix himself a cup of coffee. "You want one, too?"<p>

"No thanks, I'm good. Welcome back," Greg said with a rather tired smile on his face.

"...You're sad that Ackles is leaving, huh?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I mean... how he's leaving... it just sucks."

"I know." Nick put his coffee mug on the table and sat down. "But letting him stay wouldn't have been a good idea, either. I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing anyone from the team is out at a crime scene with that guy."

"I know."

"Did they find the other guys who attacked you?"

Greg nodded. "Oh yeah. Once Lowell realized how much time he could face in prison for the attack he betrayed every one of them." He chuckled. "Cut a few years off his sentence but he'll still spend a lot of time in prison."

"That's good news." Nick noticed the gloomy look on his friend's face. "It's gonna be fine, Greg. Ackles will find a new job he'll feel more comfortable with."

The tired smile on Greg's lips turned into a sad one. "I know. But it's not fair. He has been working for a few weeks, then got attacked... I don't know if I would've stayed on this job, had this happened to me only a few moments into the job."

"I think you would've. Because Ackles didn't have what you did."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Me." Nick smiled at him. When he did, he received a genuine, happy smile from Greg.

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><p><strong>Ende.<strong>


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